Future Series 01 Arrival
by MTP
Summary: What starts as a normal raid on one of Robotnik's bases turns Tails work upside down when he is transported to the future. What changes will his arrival bring and what past events lay in store for him?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Tornado 2 went into a steep dive as it barrel rolled to one side. Behind the controls the young orange kitsune, known as Tails, was looking around frantically in order to keep track of his targets. The targets he was looking for were in fact missiles coming from the ground base below him. Presently one decided to do just that, flying towards the plane at a fair speed. Tails quickly put the plane into another roll and pulled away to one side allowing the missile to fly past him harmlessly.

"Heh! Not so hard to fool!" he chimed happily righting the plane.

Time had passed by and things had not changed at all. It was now four years after the incident on the space colony ARK and Eggman was still up to his usual tricks. There had been a brief pause in the proceedings after ARK but it hadn't lasted more than a few months and then Eggman was back. Himself and Sonic had never given up trying to stop him, in fact they'd acquired more help from Knuckles in recent years which had pleased them both greatly. Tails had often wondered if Eggman would ever stop trying to take over the world. It seemed he had been fighting this battle all his life and he'd never say it but he was becoming tired of the constant fighting. The three of them weren't getting any younger, quite the opposite in fact, Sonic and Knuckles were fast leaving their teenage years and he was just approaching them. Tails glanced down at his twelve year old frame for a moment, thinking back into the past as he did, some things changed and some didn't, that was the way of life he guessed.

He began to wonder what was keeping Sonic. The older hedgehog had entered the base below what must have been a good ten minutes ago, even giving time for interruptions it was slow for Sonic. As Tails continued to watch the ground below he noticed a brief pause in the attack. No missiles had come his way in a good minute and it was now starting to worry him.

"What's going on…?"

He received his answer soon enough as several bright points of light flickered into life on the base below followed by a barrage of intense laser fire filling the sky. The new attack was so sudden that Tails had little time to dodge and was caught completely off guard. Giving a yelp and curling up in his seat he felt the plane being struck several times in quick succession. Uncurling in his seat he saw that the engine was smoking violently and hydraulic fluid was leaking from the port wing. Quickly shutting off the pumps to the port wing he looked back at the engine and crossed his fingers.

"I hope this still works."

Slowly his hand reached down and pressed a series of buttons on the control panel in front of him. There was a momentary pause before the wings folded up slightly and swept backwards forming a large X shape. At the same time the propeller on the front of the plane folded inside the engine and the engine itself formed into a point. Tails quickly pulled back on the controls as a large booster rocket on the bottom of the plane ignited throwing the plane forwards with tremendous force. The Tornado 2 proceeded to go into a steep climb, gaining distance from the laser turrets below before it arced over in a loop and started to nose dive towards them. Tails didn't have time to notice warning lights and buzzers inside the cockpit as target locks appeared all over his display. His finger played lightly on the trigger as slowly, one by one, the targets all turned red. As the last one locked his finger clutched the trigger forcing a flurry of his own laser beams to arc out away from the plane. Tails quickly started to pull up, the belly of the plane almost scrapping the ground as his own laser fire charged into the unsuspecting laser turrets. Tails beamed in joy at his handy work, pulling a small barrel roll as he climbed away from the base. His thoughts quickly shifted back to Sonic and, picking up the radio, he called his friend.

"Sonic? Hey Sonic what's going on?" he asked quickly still climbing.

The reply was not instant but it came eventually accompanied by numerous explosions and robotic fizzles.

"Quite a bit Tails! You done out there?"

"All set Sonic."

"Good then get on in here, we got work to do."

"Roger!"

Switching off the radio, Tails put the plane into a dive once more and headed towards the ground. A couple of the laser turrets had survived his earlier attack but they were now easier to avoid than before. Swinging the plane from left to right he lined up on a clear strip of land and dropped the plane to the ground. The plane hit the ground and bounced once before its speed decreased enough for it to stay on the ground. Sonic had done a great job earlier in taking out the robots outside the base and Tails' landing was not interrupted by anything. Making sure the plane was switched off completely, Tails leaped from the pilot seat and started to run towards the main entrance to the base. Bits of robot and various other machines covered the ground but Tails effortlessly picked his way over the debris, occasionally using his tails to fly over larger chunks. As he passed through the doors to the base the light level started to decrease dramatically, it was plainly obvious that the less important base systems such as the lights had been turned off to power the defences. However, Tails' keen eyes were able to pick out his route even in the pitch black of night so the current lighting level posed little problem to him.

As he progressed further the noise of laser fire and explosions started to get louder signifying that he was approaching the battle ahead. Tails took a deep breath preparing himself for what was to come and then charged head long into the fray. Tucking his feet under himself he whipped his tails into a flurry as he shot into the room ahead. As he did the light level increased considerably allowing him to see where he was a lot better. He gave a quick glance around the room he had just entered, above him a high dome extended into the air which was covered in lights and gantry ways. Four sets of huge doors served the room, all of which were locked apart from the one he had just entered through, and in the centre of the room sat a huge generator. Sitting atop of this generator was their goal, the Master Emerald.

A further glance around the room caused Tails to freeze for a moment. To one side of the room, cornered by three robots, was Sonic. The hedgehog was still moving fast but obviously having a hard time with the robots he was battling. Tails gave a quick spin heading towards the fight as quickly as he could before giving a short yell.

"Head up Sonic!"

Jumping into the air slightly, he spun round and threw his tails out as he did. An odd shimmer ran across both of his tails before a blade of energy flew from each one, each tearing across the open space between him and the robots before hitting one of them with quite a force. The struck robot was cleaved clean in half and sparked for a moment before exploding. Sonic quickly used the opening to leap out of his corner and started to run circles around one of the robots. A large blue tornado sprung up around the robot quickly throwing it into the air. The final robot decided to charge Sonic at the point and Sonic quickly stepped back just as the second robot came down from its trip and landed squarely on the third smashing them both to pieces. Tails quickly dashed over to his friend and spoke equally quickly.

"Sonic! You ok?" he asked.

"Never better Tails, thanks for the help." replied Sonic.

"It was nothing Sonic."

Sonic gave a grin and then quickly looked over at the centre of the room.

"Tails you get the Emerald, I have a feeling Eggman is about to crash the party." he said.

"Got it Sonic." replied Tails quickly taking off and heading towards the generator in the middle of the room.

Tails hadn't made it more than a few meters when a laugh filled the room causing him to stop. He and Sonic looked over at the farthest set of double door as they slowly swung open to reveal the new arrival. A series of large metallic clangs could be heard as a giant robot slowly plodded into view. It was walking on two short stubby legs which held its giant egg shaped body. Its head was long and stretched over the body and forwards of it quite a way. A series of spikes lined both sides of its head and body as well as a number of cannons which poked from its head. To the left side was mounted an arm carrying an even larger laser cannon and to the right was mounted an arm with a large spiked ball on it connected to a long chain. A long spiked tail also stretched behind the robots and two large pointed wings extended above it out of its back. Tails could feel himself shake slightly at the sight of this monstrous new foe but glancing over at Sonic Tails could see that he was not fazed at all. Sonic quickly took a few steps towards the new robot as he started to talk.

"Finally decided to show up eh Eggman!" he taunted giving a grin as he did.

A small circular hatch opened in the belly of the robot revealing the plump doctor himself, he didn't look too pleased.

"This time you've met your match hedgehog and your furry friend too!" he roared, "You won't be stopping me this time."

"Yo Tails!" called Sonic looking over at his friend, "What do you think the odds are of that?"

Tails grinned slightly, catching onto Sonic's taunt. He flicked himself over so he was supporting himself on his spinning tails and raised a hand to his chin, rubbing it gently.

"Hmm…well I'd have to say fifty thousand to one again at least but then you have to take consideration of the fact that we've always won so maybe it'd be more like…"

"Silence!" screamed Eggman, "You'll both pay today with your lives!"

With that the hatch closed and the robot took up a fighting stance, pointing its large left arm cannon at Sonic. Sonic shot a glance at Tails and shouted.

"Tails! Get the Emerald! I'll take care of egg features!"

"Got it Sonic."

Tails flipped himself back over and started to fly over towards the generator. As he did Sonic leaped to one side just as the robots cannon fired. Tails could feel the heat generated by it even at his distance. The laser blast hit the floor where Sonic had been standing, carving a giant hole in the floor and causing a lot of the nearby metal to melt from the temperature. Sonic had used this time to leap towards the robot, aiming an attack at the hatch. This was quickly deflected as the robot's right arm came round to block Sonic's path using the large spiked mace. Tails didn't notice any of this though as he landed on top of the generator. The Master Emerald was a mere meter away but between him and it sat a thick layer of clear glass. Tails stepped back slightly before spinning and throwing his tails round sending two blades of energy at the glass dome over the Emerald. However, instead of smashing the glass the energy blades simply bounced off creating a dazzling light display. Tails had to shield his eyes from it due to the brightness but then spun as he heard a voice.

"Oh no you don't!"

Tails' face went white slightly as he saw the huge robot now pointing its right arm directly at him. Seconds later the huge spiked ball flew from its arm, propelled by several small rocket motors. Fear was the first thing to enter his mind but then he was hit by an idea. He spun to the side and leaped from the generator, taking flight as he did. Without waiting a second he spun in mid air and sent two further energy blades sailing towards the spiked ball before regaining his flight. The blades struck the ball at an angle and sent it off course, smashing it into the glass dome and shattering it to pieces.

"ARGH! Damn you!" cursed Robotnik as the spike ball started to react.

"That's what you get for picking on people smaller than yourself!" jeered Tails with a jubilant voice.

"Go Tails!" cried Sonic across the room as he took another flying leap at the robot.

Tails quickly landed back on the generator and made a move towards the Emerald. As he did a few sparks started to flash across the Emerald causing Tails to stop short in puzzlement. He blinked wondering what was going on but got his answer moments later as the entire generator below him started to humm loudly.

"Haha!" roared Eggman, "It's ready! The energy extraction procedure has started! Soon the Master Emerald's power will be all mine!"

"Tails stop it!" cried Sonic.

Tails looked back at Sonic for a moment to see his friends picking himself up off the floor holding his left arm.

"You're both fools! You won't win this time!" continued Eggman.

Just then the Emerald gave a huge spark and started to shimmer, energy visibly being transferred to the generator below. As this happened the robot fighting Sonic also started to glow, two huge rocket engines mounted in its wings powering up as it did. It wasn't a second later that the engines fired pushing the huge robot off the ground.

"Tails!" cried Sonic.

Tails quickly looked back at the Emerald, slightly afraid to go anywhere near it right now. Slowly he started to edge towards it, shielding his face from the heat the energy was creating as it sparked out. He started to extend a hand towards the Emerald, soon making it two as he closed his eyes and gripped the Emerald with both hands. At first he felt nothing but then a searing pain shot through his body, his hands gripping the Emerald even tighter as a burning pain froze then to the Emerald's surface. For a moment he sat with the pain, forgetting even to scream, before he reacted.

"Sonic!" he screamed his voice echoing around the entire room.

"Tails!" cried Sonic in response, momentarily pausing in his attack.

This pause was not acknowledged by Eggman, the right spike ball arm of the robot swinging round and striking Sonic heavily in the side. Sonic was thrown off to one side and embedded in a nearby wall causing Sonic to spit up a little blood as he looked back at his friend on the generator. Tails' body was now covered in a bright white glow and for all his will power he could not let go of the Emerald. The pain was now fully swamping his senses, becoming too much even to feel. He felt like he was floating in space, lost in a sea of pain, as slowly he began to fade from consciousness. As he did a sentence slipped from his lips.

"Sonic…urg…sorry…"

Sonic screamed his friends name as he watched his form disappear in a white glow in front of him. For the first time in a long time Sonic actually felt fear. He didn't even attempt to pull himself from the wall as he just stared at the top of the generator. Neither did he notice the giant robot hovering just to one side, its left arm laser cannon pointed directly at him…

-----------------------------------------

"What do you think we should do Shiro?"

"Nara be quiet and let me think."

"He looks hurt."

"I know he looks hurt but we have to be careful remember."

Tails slowly started to become aware of sounds around him as his consciousness returned. He let out a small moaning groan as his senses started to return to him but as of yet he didn't open his eyes.

"Look! Shiro he's waking up!"

"Yeah I know Nara, pipe down a bit will you."

Tails heard the voices but at the moment didn't really pay them any attention. As he came round he started to feel cold water running past his legs and shivered slightly at the temperature. It was then that a sharp thumping pain started to run through his hands causing him to whimper slightly and curl up a little. Slowly his eyes began to open and he caught sight of the grey concrete floor he was lying on. The sound of running water started to fill his ears as did the soft breathing of the two people around him. He was lying on his side at the time and slowly he started to push himself up using his forearms because his hands hurt too much to use at the time. Raising his head he took notice of where he was. He appeared to be in some sort of water tunnel, his legs and tails lay in the water with his upper body resting on a sloped concrete ramp that led down into the water. A cold draft blew down the tunnel making Tails shiver even more than he was already. Still in a dazed state he continued to look around eventually spotting the two people whose voices he had heard. One was a racoon, his fur was a pale grey colour with black rings around his tails and eyes, which were a deep indigo colour. A small black jacket was wrapped around him and on his feet were a pair of faded blue sneakers. His expression was a mix of caution, confusion and worry for the most part. Looking down slightly Tails spotted the other one, a small brown rabbit, being pushed back slightly by the older racoon's arm. She wore a plain white t-shirt, which was stained beyond belief with all manner of things, and a pair of tatty green trousers. On her feet sat a pair of black shoes and on her ears, which hung forward over her face, were a series of red ribbons. She looked curious but afraid but then that was natural for a young child. Tails looked at them for a moment before nearly collapsing back to the ground again. He slowly pulled himself back up and shut his eyes, giving a moan as he did.

"Where…where am I?" he asked slowly.

"The sewers." replied the racoon after a moment.

"The sewers?" asked Tails giving another brief look around, "Where?"

"Robotnik Square."

"Huh? Robotnik Square?"

Tails looked around again before giving another groan and bowing his head.

"Are….are you hurt?" asked the rabbit slowly.

"I don't know." replied Tails with a moan.

"You look hurt." she continued.

"Nara be quiet." hissed the racoon.

"But he's hurt, we should help him." insisted the rabbit.

"We don't even know who he is or where he came from yet Nara."

"My name is Tails." coughed Tails looking up again, "I come from Western Isle originally but right now I just go where I have to."

It was at this point that the rabbit managed to duck under the racoon's arm and darted over to Tails' side. The racoon looked afraid for a second and darted after her, catching hold of the rabbit's shoulder before she got too close. Even so the rabbit was now only a few feet away and kneeling down next to Tails on the concrete.

"My name's Nara." she said slowly, "Glad to meet you Tails! And this is my brother Shiro."

"Brother?" questioned Tails looking from the rabbit to the racoon.

"Well more like guardian, obviously I couldn't be her blood brother." replied Shiro kneeling down next to Nara.

"Are you ok?" asked Nara.

"My hands hurt." replied Tails slowly.

"Let me take a look." said Shiro edging forwards slightly.

Tails' hands were currently clenched into a fist and it took a bit of effort and about a minute for him to open them up. As he did Shiro couldn't help but cringe. Tails' gloves were burnt off on the palm side and his flesh was red raw. Shiro slowly reached out and pulled back part of Tails' singed glove causing Tails to cry out in pain. Shiro quickly let go and withdrew slightly.

"You've got some serious burns on those hands, we better get you seen too or they could go septic." he said.

"Thanks…" replied Tails with a whimper.

"Here, take my arm."

Shiro slowly stood up and then bent over, offering his arm to Tails. Tails in turn slowly pushed himself up a bit more and wrapped his arm around Shiro's. Shiro then slowly pulled up as Tails pushed himself to his knees and then to his feet. Tails still didn't feel completely with it and so stood still for a moment trying to get his co-ordination right. As he did this he gave his legs a small shake, knocking the cold water off them, and then did the same with his tails. This second action made Nara jump and give a small yelp causing Shiro to look over at her suddenly.

"Nara? What is it?" he asked.

Nara just covered her mouth with one hand and pointed to Tails' tails with the other. Shiro took a look himself and couldn't help but look surprised also.

"What the…?" he asked to no-one in particular.

"Where do you think my name came from?" asked Tails slowly, "My real name is Miles Prower, Tails is a nickname."

Shiro looked at him astounded for a moment but then looked to one side and wiped the expression from his face, when he looked back his expression was as it had been before. Nara on the other hand was still staring at the fox's tails.

"Nara don't stare." said Shiro roughly.

"They look funny though." she replied.

"Nara! Don't be rude."

"It's ok, I've had much worst than that." interrupted Tails grinning as best he could through the pain in his body.

"Well ok then, come on, let's get you back to the Den." said Shiro, "Come on Nara."

Shiro started to walk forwards, supporting Tails as he walked beside him. Nara followed along behind, her eyes fixed on the twin tails of the fox ahead of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The walk seemed to take hours to Tails but really it wasn't more than half an hour. The scenery around the three was the same as before, long concrete tunnels, running water and the cold draft. Tails started to shiver from the cold at one point causing Shiro to remove his jacket and place it around Tails' shoulder. Nara still followed on behind, fixated on Tails' tails as they flicked back and forth, before finally deciding to pop the question.

"How'd you get two tails?" she asked curiously.

Tails glanced over his shoulder at the young rabbit and looked at her closely. There was not a hint of malice or cruelty in her voice, just genuine curiosity. Tails gave a small smile and looked back at the path in front of him.

"I was born with them." he responded.

"Did your mum and dad have two tails?"

"I…I don't know. I never knew my parents."

"Oh…"

Nara seemed a bit embarrassed for asking that last question and fell completely silent. Tails glanced over his shoulder again at the rabbit.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." he said.

"Best leave her be." said Shiro quietly.

"Huh?"

"She lost her own parents when she was young too, that's why I'm looking after her."

"Oh…right."

Tails looked back at Nara again for a moment before looking forward again. Presently Shiro stopped and turned to one side turning into a small branching tunnel. It was so narrow that they had to go down it in single file sideways in order to fit without getting stuck. As they progressed further along the small tunnel Tails began to wonder just where they were going. They had said he was in the sewers of Robotnik Square but where was that? Eggman didn't have any cities to call his own, all his bases ended up getting destroyed in one shape or form, where was he? More to the point what were two kids doing living in the sewers?

"How much further is it?" asked Tails quietly.

"Nearly there." replied Shiro finally coming to a stop.

He turned to one side and slipped through another thin passage in the wall. Tails quickly followed, making sure he didn't scrape his burnt hands on the wall as he did. The new passage was even thinner than the other one but it was only about a meter long. A few second later Tails found himself bursting into a large open room. Lights hung from the wall all over with a few small tables littered around the floor. Off to one side lay three piles of rags with what looked like bedding folded up on top of them. From the ceiling was suspended a large plastic tarpaulin which was catching water that dripped from various overhead pipes and fed it slowly down into a series of large barrels at one end of the room. On the other side of the room sat a set of broken down cupboards with a door hanging open allowing Tails to see that it contained food. Shiro stepped past him into the room and called.

"Aero! Hey Aero you here?"

There was a rustling to one side of the room and a small flap of material covering the entrance to another room lifted to reveal a new face. The face was that of a blue fox, his ears were tipped with a black mark and black fur covered his muzzle and chest. His bangs flicked up and then drooped low over his face, which reminded Tails of what his had looked like when he was younger but a bit more exaggerated, but they also look rather shaggy. He wore a pair of baggy deep green cargo pants, a brown sweatband on his right wrist, a pair of black rimmed glasses and a set of white trainers. He quickly stepped out of the room smiling cheerfully.

"Hey Shiro, find any food while you were out?" he said obviously not noticing Tails as he crossed over to where one of the water buckets were.

"No but I did find this." replied Shiro giving a nod in Tails direction.

The fox stopped and looked towards Shiro and Tails, this time taking notice of the new arrival.

"What the? Shiro where'd you find him?" he asked.

"He was in one of the sewer passages, he's got injuries too, have we got any medical stuff left?"

"I'm not sure, Nara used most of it when she fell of that water pipe a few months back."

Out of the corner of his eye Tails could see the small rabbit shifting around nervously as if she felt sorry for what she had done. During this time the fox had crossed over to a cupboard on the near wall and was rummaging through it. After a bit of searching he finally pulled out some bandages and a small tub of something.

"We don't have much left so use it sparingly ok." he said handing the items to Shiro.

Shiro took them quickly and started to walk over to the water barrels beckoning Tails as he did. Tails slowly followed as the other fox passed him and went to talk to Nara. Shiro set the items down on a crate next to the barrels and pointed at the open barrel.

"Take those gloves off if you can and stick your hands in there. Gotta get those hands cleaned off before we dress them."

Tails gave a small understanding nod and looked at his hands. He had managed to leave them unclasped since he opened his hands earlier in the sewers but it now became apparent that he couldn't remove his gloves without causing pain to himself. He slowly raised his left hand to his muzzle and tried to pull the burnt glove off with his teeth but failed in his attempt, finally lowering his hand and looking at Shiro.

"Could you?" he asked sheepishly holding out his hands.

"No problem." replied Shiro.

Shiro reached forward and took hold of Tails gloves but not before pulling a small flick knife from his pocket. He quickly cut what was left of Tails' gloves and let the tattered pieces fall to the ground. He nodded towards the water bucket and Tails slowly submerged his hands into the water. The sting was evident on his expression as the cold water started to sooth his burns. Tails' expression soon relaxed though as he started to swish his hands around slightly allowing the water to do its work. He could have stood there for hours but Shiro finally indicated that it was enough and he removed his hand. Shiro then proceeded to dab Tails' hands dry using an old rag and then opened the tub the fox had given him.

"What's that?" asked Tails a little wary.

"It's like an antiseptic cream but we make it ourselves. Problem is the mould we make it from it getting a bit scarce now so we have to be careful how much we use." replied Shiro scooping out a glob of the cream.

Tails looked at it for a moment and rose and eyebrow. The cream was a rusty red colour and looked like it had lumps of some kind in it.

"It's ok you know, I can do without if you're short." said Tails quickly.

"No worries, we got enough to treat you, besides those burns are pretty serious. Now hold still, this might sting a little."

Tails held out his hands allowing Shiro to rub a small amount into his left palm. As the cream touched his skin he gave a sharp yelp, the cream immediately having an effect as it touched his wounds. He bore out the pain as best he could as Shiro applied a coat of the cream to both his hands and then put it away. He then took out some old looking cloth bandages and proceeded to wrap each of Tails hands up in them. By the time Shiro was finished Tails' hands looked more like white stubs but Tails had to admit that he'd done a good job and the cream really was working.

"Thanks." he said giving a small smile.

Shiro waved his hands out to the side and smiled himself.

"Think nothing of it, if we can't help our own kind what is this world coming to?" he replied.

"Yo Shiro! You done yet? I've got a fire going if you want to warm up a bit." shouted the fox from earlier across the room.

Tails felt his fur bristle at the mention of a fire. He hadn't noticed much before now but the sewers were really quite cold. Shiro noticed his reaction and stepped up beside him, placing an arm round his shoulders.

"Come on you can come share our fire and have a bit to eat if you like and in return you can tell us what you're doing here." he said guiding Tails over to the fire.

Tails was only happy to obey and followed Shiro's guiding hand over to the fire where he promptly sat down on a small cushion and started to warm himself in front of the fire. Shiro sat down across from him and a moment later both the fox and Nara appeared with a few drinks and a bit of food which they set down next to the group before sitting down themselves. There was a moment of silence before Shiro spoke.

"Well I guess introductions are in order, proper ones this time. I'm Shiro, just Shiro. This is Nara and the one you haven't met yet is Aero."

Tails looked over at the fox who in turn gave a small wave.

"Pleased to meet you, who are you anyway?" he asked politely.

"I'm Miles, Miles Prower, but most people call me Tails." replied Tails.

"Tails? Why Tails?" asked Aero.

"Because he has…" murmured Nara quietly.

"Because I have two tails." finished Tails flicking his twin appendage into view.

Aero gave a blink and then removed his glasses, giving them a wipe on his trousers before placing them back on his nose.

"I noticed that earlier but I though my eyes were messing up again." he chuckled, "Isn't that a little odd?"

"I guess so but I'm used to it. Besides they're useful." replied Tails flicking his tails back behind him.

"Useful? How so?" asked Shiro sitting forwards.

"Would you like a demonstration?" asked Tails glancing round the group.

Shiro and Aero looked at him with a bit of suspicion whereas Nara was looking on curiously. Tails waved his hands and then stood up, backing off a few meters to gain some free space.

"I'll keep it low or I'll probably knock a load of things over in this confined space."

Tails slowly leaned over forwards slightly and gave his tails a quick spin, lifting his feet from the ground by about a floor. A small draft built up in the room, kicking up a bit of dirt and nearly blowing out the fire. Tails quickly stopped when he saw this, dropping back to the floor again and walking back over to the fire. The three furries around him did nothing but stare at him as he sat down again and started to warm himself once more. After a moment he looked round at them all and spoke.

"See."

"That was…." started Shiro.

"Amazing!" finished Aero, "I never thought a fellow vulpine would be able to do that!"

"Well it took a while to learn how to do that." said Tails smiling slightly at the comment.

"I can imagine." replied Aero looking round at his single tails, "Makes me wish I had two tails now!"

"Oh believe me you don't want that kind of attention." put in Tails quickly, "Sometimes it's just a nuisance."

Aero nodded slightly, still casting glances at his own tail. Shiro slowly leaned back and took hold of one of the trays of food, bringing it forward into view.

"You hungry?" he asked.

"Starving." replied Tails glancing over at him.

"Well it's not gourmet cooking but you can have a bit if you like."

Tails looked at the contents of the tray, there was a bit of bread, a few raw vegetables, some sort of cooked fish and a small tub of nuts. Shiro held out the tray towards Tails and slowly Tails reached forward, plucking a piece of bread from the tray. Holding it between his bandaged paws he began to nibble at it. The bread wasn't all that appetising but Tails was too hungry to care. Shiro then offered the tray around the others starting with Aero.

"You mind if I…?" he asked.

"No course not, I had it last time remember." replied Shiro with a smile.

Aero gave a smile in return and swiftly picked the fish from the tray, tearing into it with a vengeance. Tails couldn't help but stare slightly at him which Aero noticed and stopped just long enough to speak.

"We don't get a lot of meat or fish down here. That doesn't bother Nara but Shiro and I need it so we kind of jump at any chance we get." he said before tearing into his fish again.

"I see." replied Tails as he resumed his nibbling.

Tails then cast a glance at Nara, the young rabbit was now holding a carrot between her hands and was gnawing on it slowly. Her ears drooped down right in front of her face but Tails could still see her eyes, shifting slowly around the ground nervously. Shiro set the tray down behind him but not before taking a handful of nuts from the bowl, which he started eating as he looked round the group.

"So, now that introductions are taken care of why not tell us a bit about yourself Tails? Where do you come from? How old are you? Stuff like that." he asked looking at Tails.

"Ok sure, well you know my name and the reason for it so I'll move on." replied Tails, "I come from Western Isle and I'm twelve years old."

"Twelve eh? You look older." said Aero.

"Really?" asked Tails looking down at himself.

"Yeah, and Western Isle eh. I've only heard of that place myself, I can't imagine how you survived there." put in Shiro.

"Huh?" questioned Tails, "What do you mean by that? Western Isle is a beautiful place."

"Beautiful place?! What planet do you come from? How can you describe an island covered in barren wastelands and machines a beautiful place?"

"Wha…what?"

Tails' expression change to one of puzzlement and fear, he had no idea what they were talking about.

"That's not true!" he objected, "I was just there a few weeks ago walking under the canopy of the forests, visiting my hometown, meeting my old friends. It's a paradise! Crystal blue seas, golden yellow beaches, acres of lush green forest, huge towering snow capped mountains…"

"The mountains are still there but they aren't snow capped any more." said Aero.

"What are you talking about? What's happened to Western Isle?" asked Tails.

"You really don't know?" asked Shiro questionably.

"Know what?" replied Tails.

Aero and Shiro looked at each other for a moment before looking back at Tails.

"Robotnik took over Western Isle over five years ago Tails, he turned it into an island of hell." said Aero.

"Huh?!" blinked Tails, his colour fading from his face.

Aero and Shiro just watched Tails' reaction to this news with interest. Tails then started to glance frantically round the room in a mild panic.

"What's going on here? What's going on? Where's Sonic?" he started saying over and over.

"Sonic?" questioned Shiro slowly before his eyes went wide in revelation, "No! You're not THE Tails are you?"

"Who do you think I am?" replied Tails now getting a bit frantic.

"My lord!" said Aero slowly catching onto Shiro's revelation.

Nara just sat sucking on her carrot looking around nervously from behind her ears. Tails was now looking from Shiro and Aero and back again, searching for answers to his questions in their eyes but finding none. Slowly his head sunk to his chest in defeat and confusion.

"What's going on?" he murmured.

"Tails, where have you been all this time?" asked Aero.

"What do you mean all this time? The last thing I remember I was…in Eggman's base helping Sonic to recover the Master Emerald. Eggman brought out this huge robot which Sonic started to fight as I went after the Master Emerald. Then this generator started drawing power out of the Emerald and I grabbed the Emerald trying to pull it free but I burnt my hands and passed out. The next thing I remember was waking up in the tunnel with you earlier." said Tails quickly.

Aero and Shiro looked at each other in amazement for a moment before looking back at Tails.

"Tails, history records that both you and Sonic died trying to stop Robotnik eight years ago." said Shiro slowly.

"Eight…years ago?" repeated Tails, his ears drooping, "How is that possible and…no! Sonic isn't dead! I have to find him!"

Tails was on his feet a moment later and walking purposefully towards the crack in the wall leading back to the sewers when he suddenly felt something fasten itself around his leg. Looking down he saw that it was Nara the young rabbit. Her small body shook as she wrapped her arms tighter around Tails' right leg, looking up at him from underneath her drooping ears.

"Don't go…" she whimpered softly, "Please don't go…"

Tails looked away from the rabbit for a moment and back at the crack in the wall before looking back at Nara. He repeated this a few times his expression a mix of fear for his lost friend and sadness before finally looking back at Nara. The rabbit was still looking up at him, her eyes fixed on his face and tears starting to form in her eyes. Tails slowly pulled her off his leg and bent down to her eye level, placing a hand on her shoulder and using the other to brush her tears away.

"It's ok Nara, I'm not going to do anything rash." he said.

"I don't want you to do! It's dangerous out there!" replied Nara slowly, "I don't want to see anyone else get hurt."

"I won't get hurt Nara, I know how to look after myself."

"But if what you say is true then this isn't the world you know Tails." put in Shiro.

Tails slowly looked over at the racoon and then looked away at the ground, a slight growl emanating from his muzzle. Tails suddenly felt Nara start to shake under his hands at this last action and he turned back to her. Nara was now looking down, only just glancing up at Tails with her eyes, her face nearly completely hidden by her ears. "Sorry Nara." Tails sighed in defeat, "I…"

Tails didn't finish his sentence, instead he gave a sigh and stood up, walking over to the far side of the room and sitting down on the floor with his back against the wall. He tucked his knees up to his chest and lowered his head to his knees before wrapping his arms around his legs. Tails just couldn't make any sense of it, it was like he'd fallen into a bad dream and couldn't wake up. What had happened to Sonic? What was going on in the world around him? Slowly tears of his own started to form in his eyes and a lump formed in his throat. Shiro and Aero just stood side by side a little way off watching him, they'd already gone through this stage earlier in their life but they knew how it felt and they both knew it was probably worst for Tails. Nara just stayed still where Tails had left her, her eyes filling with fresh tears as she watched the kit start to cry. It was only a few more moments before she got to her feet and sprinted the short distance to where Tails sat, collapsing next to him and bursting into floods of tears herself. Tails responded by putting one of his arms around the small rabbit and hugging her close, to which Nara responded by hugging him back. Shiro and Aero slowly turned away from the pair and started to walk across the room talking quietly to each other as they did.

"Poor guy." commented Shiro.

"You really believe everything he's said?" asked Aero.

"I don't know Aero but judging from his reaction he's either a good actor or he really is telling the truth."

"You really think he's THE Tails?"

"Do you doubt your own kin Aero?"

"No never! It's just hard to comprehend. I mean I know I'm not really old enough to remember the stories of Sonic and Tails, I was only two when they were killed, but if this really is him…where has he been for the last eight years?"

"I don't know Aero and something tells me that even he doesn't know."

"You think he has amnesia?"

"That only covers the last eight years? That'd be pretty strange Aero."

"I know Shiro but I mean what else is there?"

"I don't know Aero but even if he had amnesia he'd have still grown."

"Huh?"

"Listen, when those two were apparently killed I believe Tails was twelve from what I can remember. Even if he's been wandering around lost in his head for the last eight years he should be twenty by now! He doesn't look any older than you Aero."

The pair slowly looked back at Tails and Nara, still wrapped in each others arms crying.

"He sure doesn't have the emotions of a twenty year old either." observed Aero.

"Exactly!" agreed Shiro, "There has to be more to this but I don't think asking him about it now would be a good idea, we'll try tomorrow. For tonight lets let him rest, Aero go grab an extra set of bedding."

"I don't know what we have spare but I'll do my best."

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Tails lay awake on the floor staring up at the ceiling. The room was nearly completely black apart from the light of a bedside lamp that had been placed next to Nara, apparently she didn't like sleeping in the dark. The only sounds in the room were the steady, somewhat loud breathing of Aero, the steady of dripping water from the pipes above them and the distant trickle of water running along the sewers back in the main passage. Tails shivered slightly, his fur sticking up due to the cold. He had placed his bed at the opposite side of the room to the other three, not out of mistrust, but just because he didn't feel comfortable yet. His body yearned to move his bed over to where the other three slept and nuzzle into them, sharing body heat, but instead he just wrapped the scratty piece of blanket tighter around him. Even his twin tails weren't enough to keep him warm in this place.

Tails started to think about what the others had said to him earlier. Eight years? Could eight years really have passed? What had happened to him to make him miss that much? Had he passed out or fallen into a coma? That wouldn't explain waking up in the sewers though, how'd he get there? More questions like these started flying around in his head, a lot of them about Sonic and what had happened to him. They had said Sonic was dead but that couldn't be true, Sonic would never die that easily and certainly not before he had defeated Robotnik. Speaking of Robotnik, just what had happened to this world? They had spoken of him taking over Western Isle and Robotnik Square. How had Eggman been able to do this?

He slowly sat up and looked around the darkened room. He'd never get any answers hiding out down here, he'd have to go out and look for himself. He had to find out what had happened for himself. Quietly he swung the blanket off himself and stood up. He glanced around the room for a moment before his eyes a small book of tattered paper sitting to one side. He crossed over to it and tore a thin slip off a sheet before looking for a writing implement. He finally found a felt marker and sat down on his blanket before he wrote out a quick note and then crossed to the sleeping trio. He tucked the note carefully under the lamp and then looked at the sleeping furries. He smiled slightly and then ruffled the hair on Nara's head slightly. The rabbit stirred in her sleep, giving a happy murmur as she did.

"Forgive me for leaving guy…but I have to."

Tails slowly straightened up and started to walk away, casting a final glance backwards before slipping into the crack in the wall. The darkness grew around him as he passed out of range of the small lamp and entered the next thin passage although his eyes were just able to make out shapes in the darkness. He slowly progressed along the tunnel, becoming more nervous and tentative as he did, the tunnel seemed to be a lot longer than he remembered it being. At last he heard the noise of the running water in the sewer channel getting louder and he finally appeared in the main tunnel. He wasn't sure which way to go but he knew whichever way he decided on he wouldn't be able to find this place again. After a moment he decided to go right and set off down the narrow walkway beside the sewer channel. As he walked he listened to his footsteps as they hit the concrete over and over and began to wonder if he was doing the right thing. Leaving without even telling them, going out to look for Sonic on his own, leaving those three by themselves again. Was it right?

Presently something caught his eye, a small glint in the darkness as light shone on something metallic. He slowly edge closer to find a ring of light shining down on the sewer floor and leading up to it a small metal ladder. The light was coming in round the edges of a circular manhole cover but was still enough to illuminate the area. For a moment Tails paused looking up at the sewer ceiling and the ring of light. This was the point of no return for him, if he went on he knew he'd never go back and if he went back he knew he'd never try this again. The urges to help the others and to look for his friends started bouncing off each other in his head until one finally won over the other. With a short sigh he placed one of his arms round the first rung and then wrapped his second round the next rung. Slowly he climbed the metal ladder, finding it a fairly difficult task due to his bandaged hands but finally made it up to the cover. He lowered his head and pushed up with his left shoulder slowly edging the manhole cover up and then to the side. He then used one of his arms to push the cover all the way off and popped his head out into the open. He was instantly hit by a cold wind that nearly froze the fur on his face. He shivered heavily ducking back down into the sewer and curling up slightly as he clung to the ladder. He understood why the other furries had been wearing clothes now, the weather really was perishing cold. Bracing himself for the chill, Tails slowly lifted himself out of the sewer and slid the manhole cover back into place. Slowly he stood up and looked around at his surroundings.

He was standing in the middle of a crossroads with tall building shooting up towards the sky all around him. They were all constructed of a dull concrete brick and had metal girders and plating all over them, obviously not design for aesthetics but more for function and cheapness. A few street lights were scattered around the streets, each giving off the occasional flicker of yellow light illuminating the area when they did. Tails couldn't see a single living creature or plant anywhere at all, it was if the entire place was a ghost town. High above him the moon was shining brightly, occasionally being blotted out by a passing cloud, and all the while the cold wind blew.

Tails looked down each of the four streets one at a time pondering which one to take. They all looked the same yet strangely they all seemed familiar as if he'd been here before. Finally picking the street straight ahead of him he started to walk at a steady pace. As he walked along he glanced from side to side looking at the various buildings. He passed what appeared to by an electrical equipment shop, the window smashed and broken gear spewing from it. The next building appeared to be an apartment block, the windows all boarded up and rubbish crammed into the door corners. Third came a clothes shop, a few window dummies still stood in the window covered in dust. The trend continued as Tails continued on, numerous other builds and shop all as deserted as the last. Tails finally came to another junction, this time a t junction with a left and right choice, he chose left and continued on into the town.

The wind continued to blow making Tails' fur bristle but it wasn't the only thing making it bristle. He hadn't been sure for a while but he now knew something was following his movements. Something or was it lots of things? A rustle to his right in a dark alley, a brief clang from the roof tops above, a whir from a shop to his left. His pace quickened, panic and fear now starting to fill his mind, until finally he broke into a run. As he tore down the street his pursuers finally showed themselves, creeping from alleyways, shops and rooftops all around him. Ten, no twenty, no more, robots started pouring into the streets all around him. Some looked like spiders, others like short men and a few looked like giant snakes. Tails pressed his eyes together tightly, wishing it was all a dream and that he'd wake up in his bed at home. It didn't happen though, he didn't wake up and instead the robots started to close in all around him. Realising his position Tails quickly took to the air, hoping to fly over the gathering mass of metal. His plan appeared to be working before a few specks appeared in the night sky moments before three new robots shot down towards him. Tails only caught a brief glance at the new robots, they looked like a double set of triangles fixed together, the forward triangle smaller than the rear one. Tails swerved in mid air, narrowly avoiding the robots charge, but in doing so crashed into a lamp post and fell back to the ground. Luckily he had cleared the surrounding robots and decided to just run, going into a sprint down the street. It was then that a faint sharp sound caught his ear moments before a sharp sting flew down his right arm. He gave a scream and tripped over, rolling for a moment before coming to a stop. He glanced over at his arm to see a large needle like device imbedded in it, which he quickly smashed with his bandaged paw knocking it off his arm. For a moment he just looked at the needle, feeling his arm starting to go numb as he did. It didn't take much longer for this numbness to spread around his body and he started to feel sleepy.

"No…can't…must find…Sonic…" he murmured quietly before finally falling unconscious.

-----------------------------------------

Nara stirred slightly, her eyes slowly fluttering open as she woke. Even though night and day didn't really exist in the sewer the natural instinct to go to sleep and wake up was still there and Nara was renowned as an early riser. She slowly rolled away from the other two and folded her bedding up against the wall before looking around. She found herself looking at Tails empty bed and cocked her head slightly in puzzlement. Giving another glance around the room she discovered Tails was not in the room and her puzzlement grew. She headed over to the curtain that served as a door to the second room and stuck her head through it.

"Tails! You here?" he said happily.

A further look around the room, which was used for storing various items, found that Tails was not their either. Her head quickly whipped back to the main room and she cast another glance around before darting over to Tails bed and checking, finding that he wasn't their in a second. Nara was now worried and she quickly darted over to where Shiro and Aero were sleeping, grabbing Shiro and shaking him quickly to wake him up.

"Shiro! Shiro wake up!" she cried.

The racoon groaned slightly and curled up.

"Nara! Lemme sleep some more will you." he moaned.

"He's gone! Tails is gone! Shiro wake up!" cried Nara quickly.

"Huh?"

Shiro sat up quickly, forgetting his sleepiness for the moment, and looked around the room before finally looking at Nara.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" he asked.

"I can't find him, I just woke up and I can't find him." replied Nara panicking slightly.

"It's alright Nara, calm down."

Shiro quickly brought Nara into a hug with one arm and used his other to grab Aero's shoulder.

"Hey Aero! Aero you lazy sack of potatoes wake up!" said Shiro quickly giving the shoulder a shake.

The fox rolled over and moaned before sitting up and rummaging around for his glasses. When he finally found them he quickly placed them on his nose and focussed on Shiro.

"Shiro you clown! It was my turn to sleep in today." he complained giving a huge yawn.

"Aero we have more important things to worry about right now, Tails has disappeared." replied Shiro standing up.

"Disappeared?" asked Aero, "What do you mean?"

"He's not here dummy! We have to find him."

Aero finally realised the situation and gave himself a quick shake to wake himself up before he made a move to pick up the lamp when suddenly he stopped. He had noticed the slip of paper Tails had left under the lamp and quickly whipped it out.

"What's that Aero?" asked Shiro quickly.

"Trouble! Read for yourself." replied the red fox handing the note to Shiro who quickly snatched it off him.

"Sorry guys but I can't stay here." read Shiro, "Sonic has to be alive somewhere and I have to find him. I thank you for your kindness during my stay but now I take my leave. Farewell and keep safe, Tails."

Shiro slowly let the note drop to the ground a look of astonishment crossing his face as he did. It wasn't a moment later that Nara burst into tears and collapsed into a heap on the floor making Aero rush to her side and embrace her. The fox looked over at Shiro and asked the obvious question.

"What do we do? If he went out during the night he's more than likely been captured by the patrols."

"Simple." replied Shiro, "We rescue him!"

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Tails gave a small moan as he slowly started to come round, his consciousness slowly starting to return to him. At first he simply lay still, curled into a loose ball where he lay, but finally he slowly raised his head. At first the world was a grey fuzz but slowly things started to come into focus and Tails was surprised to find that the grey fuzz hadn't been far from the truth. He found himself staring at a plain grey concrete wall which was lined with numerous cracks and had a pretty rough finish. Tails lay studying the wall for a moment before a stinging feeling in his hands distracted him. Tails slowly brought his hands up to look at them and found himself staring at his burns once again, the tattered remains of his bandages hanging from them. He winced slightly and rolled slowly onto his front, pushing himself up onto his knees as he did. What greeted his vision made him give a sharp yelp of alarm.

Long, thick metal bars stretched across the front of the concrete room he was in proving it could only be one thing, a cell. Tails' ears drew back immediately, the events of earlier coming back to his mind. He glanced around again, looking for a way out but found no vents or windows in the cell at all just plain concrete walls. It was then that he heard a faint robotic whirr from along the corridor and his head snapped up quickly. A small hovering robot soon came into view, it was basically a large round ball with several long spindly arms sticking out of it. On the top was a small antenna dish and the whole thing was covered in a multitude of coloured lights. Tails watched from his position on the floor as it turned towards him and clicked for a few moments before suddenly shooting off down the corridor. Tails quickly pulled himself to his feet and rushed over to the bars but the robot was gone before he got there. He pressed his muzzle up close to the bars and tried to look down the corridor after the robot but he couldn't see any more than a few meters along the corridor. He slowly took a step back and turned around, leaning his back against the bars of the cell. He slowly raised his left hand to his muzzle and started to absently gnaw on his middle finger. As he did the hot breath from his nose passed over his burnt hands making them sting slightly. He ignored this and started to cast his glance around the room slowly, puzzling over what exactly he was going to do. He had been captured and thus escape was a top priority but Tails had to admit to himself that he was puzzled over what was going on. Had everything Shiro and the other had said been true? His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down the corridor and the slight tingle of metal against itself. Tails slowly turned to look over his shoulder and pressed his face against the bars trying to see who was approaching. The corridor was dark, lit by no lights, and only a small single bulb hung from the ceiling of his cell so it was very difficult to see who was approaching. All Tails could see was a rounded shape moving towards the cell but as it drew nearer Tails started to back off slightly. In the dim light from his cell he could now see small metal buckles and a pair of goggles glinting. Colours started to become more apparent, a bright red and a deep black, a general shape started to form, a large rounded figure. Tails quickly jumped back and took up a fighting pose as finally the figure can into the light, Robotnik. Tails recognised him easily but he looked slightly different to what he remembered, firstly his moustache was a lighter shade of brown and the tips were slightly grey. His clothes were similar to what he usually wore but now had large gold shoulder pads and his jacket had a few tassels hanging from it.

Tails couldn't help but growl as the plump man stopped in front of him. Robotnik didn't say anything or move for a moment but then finally gave a sharp chuckle.

"Well well! I would never have thought it possible if I hadn't been here myself." he said rubbing his chin slightly.

"Thought what?!" growled Tails in response standing his ground.

"That you're alive my furry friend. I had always though you'd died all those years ago but it appears not to be the case."

"What are you talking about?"

"Then you are as ignorant as I thought you would be. No matter, let me show you."

Robotnik quickly raised his arm and a portion of the cell door slid up into the ceiling. Seeing this as maybe his only chance to escape, Tails leaped forwards aiming straight for Robotnik. However, just as he cleared the cell doors two robots, like the one that had appeared earlier, darted out of the shadows. Tails was too occupied with Robotnik and escape to notice and before he knew it the two robots were on him. It only took a moment for a robotic arm from each robot to fasten onto Tails' wrists and hold him still. The two robots then moved upwards sharply, pulling Tails off the floor, and a further four robotic arms attached themselves to his ankles and tails. Tails hung suspended between the two robots completely helpless and unable to move, this however didn't stop him from struggling.

"ARGH! Damn you Robotnik!" he cried straining at the restraints.

"Bah! You're still as idiotic as ever Tails, do you really think you could escape that easily?" chuckled Robotnik.

"Yes actually!" replied Tails smiling at Robotnik.

Robotnik's chuckle faded in a flash and he reached forward sharply, grabbing Tails' hands and pulling them up into view. Tails couldn't help but yelp as Robotnik did this. The burns, although for a time soothed by the antiseptic cream, still hurt. Robotnik held Tails' hand palm up allowing both of them to see the burns.

"Now I am sure of what happened." he said letting go of Tails hands, "Bring him!"

Robotnik turned and started to walk down the corridor out of the cell block. As he did the two robots started to hover after him, bringing Tails along with them as they did. Tails was now watching everything closely, trying desperately to find someway that he could escape. He still couldn't believe what was going on but for now he was more concerned with how to escape. He was looking in every which direction trying to find a vest or something that he could use to escape. He then stopped and looked at the two robots holding him and hung his head.

"God what have I got myself into…?" he asked quietly to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"Shiro! Hey Shiro!" said Aero as quietly as he could.

"SHH!" hissed Shiro in response, "They'll hear us!"

Aero screwed up his face and nodded to his side. Shiro glanced over at where Aero was indicating to see Nara clung to Aero's right leg. The small rabbit was shaking violently and was practically curled into a ball around the fox's leg. Shiro pulled an annoyed face for a moment and then knelt down next to Nara.

"Nara? Nara you ok?" asked Shiro in a whisper.

Nara just shook her head quickly, her eyes shut tight as she still clung to Aero's leg.

"Nara it's ok to be scared you know." continued Shiro, "I'm scared."

Nara slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Shiro.

"You are?" she asked slowly.

"I might not show it Nara but I don't think I've been this scared in my entire life." replied Shiro.

"But….but you're never scared Shiro. You're always so strong."

"I'm strong so that you'll be strong Nara. You gotta be strong for me Nara."

"But I'm scared Shiro…what if we get caught?"

Shiro looked up at Aero and the fox gave him a small shrug. They both knew it was a possibility but neither had really admitted to themselves it would happen. Nara on the other hand seemed to be dwelling in it. Shiro slowly looked back at Nara to find her gripping Aero's leg even tighter and looking around wearily.

"Nara think what'll happen if we don't do this. Think of what'll happen to Tails, you don't want anything bad to happen to him do you." said Shiro.

"No." replied Nara slowly.

"Then we have to do this. Tails won't be able to escape on his own, we have to help him. Besides it's your turn to use the sparker."

Nara looked up slowly, her scared expression changing slightly to excitement.

"It is?" she asked slowly, "I thought it was your turn."

Shiro looked up at Aero and twitched his eyebrow at the fox. Aero rose his own eyebrows as if questioning what Shiro had done and then nodded, a look of realisation crossing his face.

"Nah, Shiro and myself headed out a few days back to try and get some food." said Aero, "We ran into a bit of trouble and he used his turn then."

"You went out without me?" asked Nara.

"We weren't long and you were asleep anyway." replied Shiro, "Besides that's history, what matters is that it's your turn."

Shiro slowly reached into his jacket and drew out a long metal object. It looked like a metal magic wand, being about thirty centimetres in length with one end of it thicker than the rest. At the opposite end was a small handle with a battery stuck to it and a trigger. Shiro slowly held it out to Nara, who equally slowly reached out and took it. Shiro then dug into his pocket and drew out a second object, this one a small metal dart, and handed that to Nara too. Nara slowly removed both of her arms from Aero's leg and took both objects, standing still for a moment before putting them in separate pockets in her trousers.

"There!" said Shiro, "Now I need you to be sharp and strong for my Nara. You've got an important part to play tonight, you think you can do it?"

Nara looked unsure for a moment but then gave a small nod.

"I'll try Shiro." She replied.

"That's good, now let's get moving, we're wasting time."

"Ok."

Nara slowly started to walk again, heading up the sewer channel as she did. Shiro slowly got to his feet and fell into step alongside Aero who gave him a small nudge in the ribs as he did.

"Nice move man." he whispered.

"Thanks for the support." replied Shiro.

"No problem, now let's find Tails and get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

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Tails allowed himself to be dragged along for what seemed like an eternity. Robotnik hadn't looked back at him since they had left the cell block and Tails had been using all his time looking for an exit. He was now starting to feel resided due to the fact that he couldn't see one anywhere. He let out a small sigh of defeat as they continued along.

"Feeling a little lost? Don't worry, I'm about to reunite you with an old friend." said Robotnik glancing a look over his shoulder.

Tails looked up sharply, his ears perked at the news. Reunite me with an old friend? Could it be? Presently they stopped at a large mechanical door and Robotnik placed his hand on a console to the side. The console bleeped and with a hiss the door cracked down the middle and slid apart revealing the next room, which they swiftly passed into. The room was circular in design with only one door leading into it. Around the outside wall of the room were banks and bank of computers and monitors. Each of them was bleeping away happily to themselves going about whatever jobs they had been set. High above the room rose to an impressive high tapering to a point a few hundred meters up. Air ducts and services criss-crossed the space above they're heads and under foot was a metal gantry like floor through which Tails could see that the room extended downwards for a few hundred meters also ending in a large fan. However none of this seemed to take precedence over a greater interest. The entire room was filled with a soft green coloured glow and, looking in towards the middle of the room, Tails could see what was causing it. Sat on top of a large pillar in the middle of the room, surrounded by various energy collection devices, was a large green coloured gem. Tails eyes widened at the sight of it.

"The Master Emerald!" he exclaimed.

"Yes indeed Tails, it has served me very well over the last few years." replied Robotnik with a chuckle.

Tails snapped his head over at Robotnik, casting an intense glare at the round doctor.

"What do you mean? What's this place? Where's Sonic?!" he demanded.

"You're in no position to be demanding answers!" snapped Robotnik turning away, "Although for my own pleasure I think I will answer some of them. This place is Robotnik Square, you might know it better as Station Square."

"Station…Square…"

Tails blinked and a chill ran down his spine, he knew he'd recognised the streets outside but how? He looked back at Robotnik as he continued.

"I can see you're wondering how I got such a grip on this world." he said.

"Where's Sonic?!" said Tails again quickly.

"That rodent? He's dead!" replied Robotnik coldly.

"D…dead!"

A further chill ran down Tails' spine and all the hope in the world seemed to drain from his mind. His face went nearly as white as his muzzle and a distant look fixed in his eyes.

"No…" he murmured.

"Yes, I can say that it was one of the crowning moments of my new order. Finally ridding myself of that annoying hedgehog."

Tails' head snapped up, a fiery look flaring in his eyes.

"That's not true! Sonic would never fall to you! You're a lying Egg roll and I'll never believe a word you say!"

"Think what you will fox until time changes your mind. That time won't be long though, I have a few interesting new devices I'd like to try out and you'll make a nice test subject!"

Tails' face twisted in a mix of rage, frustration and pain. Sonic couldn't be dead, he just couldn't be! Neither he, Robotnik nor the robots present detected a small movement in a vent above them.

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"Aero you sure this is the way?" asked Shiro.

"Yeah positive, don't doubt my nose man!" replied Aero.

"Ok ok, just making sure."

The three furries were now making their way along an air duct following Tails' scent. They had entered the main city building through the sewers earlier and had so far been able to remain undetected. Nara seemed to have buried her fear for now although she was still the most wary in the group. Shiro had been leading for some time but now Aero had taken point and was following the distinct smell Tails left behind him. Aero was a great tracker, able to follow even the faintest smell for miles and find his target. Shiro was always being impressed by Aero's ability but couldn't help but check from time to time, even the best made mistakes at times. Just then Nara stopped and grabbed Shiro's sleeve forcing Shiro to stop and look round at her.

"What is it Nara?" he asked.

"I hear something….voices." replied Nara.

Out of the group Nara had the best ears, followed closely by Aero. Shiro wasn't that good at hearing things, his small ears were good for day to day use but useless in every other situation. Aero suddenly cocked his head and started to listen, a strained look on his face as he did.

"I can't hear anything." he said, "You sure Nara?"

"Yes…I can hear voices ahead." replied Nara looking at Aero.

"Which direction are they coming from Nara?" asked Shiro.

Nara lifted one of her ears to get a clearer picture of the sound and then let it drop down again before answering.

"Up ahead and to the left." she said.

"Aero?" asked Shiro.

"That's where the smell is coming from." replied Aero with a nod.

"Ok then, here's the plan. If this is Tails then we have to get him out of here. Who knows who he's talking to and what condition he's in but our priority is to get him back into the sewers clear." informed Shiro.

Aero and Nara each gave a small nod.

"I don't pretend to think that this'll be easy but we have to do this. Come on let's move!"

"You got it!" replied Aero with a smile before he darted up the air duct following the smell again.

Shiro soon followed but Nara wavered for a moment before following. As she followed then she started to fiddle with the item Shiro had given her earlier in her pocket. It wasn't long before they could all clearly hear the voices coming from ahead and sure enough one of them belonged to Tails. Shiro clenched his fist in triumph, they'd found him, but at the same time his mind was racing, he recognised the other voice.

Aero suddenly stopped ahead of him nearly causing Shiro to crash into him but he managed to stop in time. Aero turned and put a finger to his lip indicating for everyone to be quiet as Nara caught up and then pointed at a vent beside him. All three of them knelt down and looked through the vent. Nara had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from squealing in alarm. They could see Tails suspended between two robots looking completely crushed and just a little way off a large round man dressed in red and black. Shiro cursed inwardly, it was Robotnik. Aero slowly turned to him and spoke so quietly Shiro nearly had to lip-read.

"Is that who I think it is?" asked the fox.

Shiro replied with a nod and Aero's eyes widened. Nara was now completely rigid where she sat, both her hands clamped to her mouth. Shiro slowly took hold of one of her arms and pulled it away from her mouth.

"Nara, it's ok. I need your help now." he said.

Shiro watched as a shiver ran over the rabbit's body before she looked at him.

"You ready?" asked Shiro.

"…y….yes." replied Nara slowly moving closer to the vest.

With shaking hands she slowly withdrew the wand and dart from her pockets and fitted the dart into the enlarged end of the wand. Edging forwards slightly more, she lightly rested the enlarged end on one of the vent panels and pushed it through. Resting her finger on the trigger she took aim at one of the robots holding Tails and pressed the trigger.

-----------------------------------------

A high pitched whine and a sudden thud sound filled the air causing Robotnik to spin round in alarm. Tails looked to his left where the noise had come from to find that the robot there was now sparking violently. He gave a sharp yelp and looked away just as the top of the robot exploded sending half of it sailing across the room. The restraints around his left arm and leg suddenly loosened and then fell away as the rest of the robot fell to the floor in a smoking heap. Everything had happened so quickly Tails didn't have time to think but one word swiftly came to mind, escape. Clenching his left fist he brought both that and his left foot round at the second robot, that was now having trouble holding the fox by itself. His fist and foot connected well and the robot gave a jerk, releasing its grip and allowing Tails to jump free. Landing on his feet near the Master Emerald a voice caught his ear.

"Tails here!"

Tails quickly looked to the side to see that a vent cover was now hanging loose and three familiar faces were poking through. Tails couldn't believe it, they'd come to rescue him! Without a moments pause he leaped into the air, spinning his tails as he did, and throwing himself into the vent nearly colliding with Aero as he did. Nara swiftly wrapped her arms around him and burst into tears.

"Tails! You're ok!" she wailed.

"Glad your safe Tails." said Aero with a nod.

"Nuts to safe guys!" cried Shiro, "We have to move now!"

"Too right Shiro." agreed Tails.

"Alright, this way!" cried Aero going into a run down the vent.

Everyone else scrambled to their feet and followed him but they didn't get far. Without warning a section of the vent shaft ahead of then exploded into a million pieces, it also happened to be the section Aero was running through and his scream was evident to the rest as the shaft exploded around him and he fell to the floor. The group skidded to a halt in front of the missing section just as another section was blown away behind them. The section they were standing in wasn't strong enough to support them on its own and with a groan it gave way, collapsing to the ground and breaking open throwing them all out across the floor. Tails glanced up to see Nara and Shiro lying next to him in a dazed state and then glanced ahead to see Aero curled up in a ball screaming in pain. It was clear even from where Tails lay that he was badly injured, pieces of the exploded vest were stuck in him in various places and blood seeped from the wounds.

A sinister chuckle filled the air causing Tails to turn around slowly. Standing in the doorway to the room was Robotnik, flanked by two large robots. Each robot looked like a giant pillar on tracks with a minigun mounted on one side and a small rocket launcher in the other side. Tails gulped inwardly, now they were in trouble.

"How predictable, you're friends have come to save you. I now seem to have several test subjects for my experiments." gloated Robotnik with a smile.

Tails slowly pushed himself up onto his knees and cast another glance at Aero before looking back at Robotnik with a defiant face.

"Who says we've given up yet Eggman!" he said quickly before leaping into the air.

Almost immediately the two robots opened fire, spraying the room with gun fire as they tracked Tails. The fox leaped from one wall to another, ducking and diving as he went using his tails. If it hadn't been live rounds some might say he was enjoying himself. The room was fast being torn apart by the gunfire but Robotnik didn't seem to notice or care, he just stood screaming at the robots to fire more. Shiro and Nara meanwhile crawled over to Aero and started to see if they could do anything for the injured fox. Although his wounds were bad, Aero was still conscious and spitting obscenities through his clenched teeth. Shiro was on the edge of panic and Nara had already crossed panic and entered blind fear.

Presently one of the robots ran out of gunfire and, as Tails landed next to the Master Emerald pillar, it fired a rocket. Tails jumped to avoid it but the explosions shook the room violently and destroyed part of the central pillar causing the Master Emerald to fall from its position and land with a crash on the floor. Because of its momentum the Emerald rolled a bit coming to rest next to Aero and the others. Seeing this Tails jumped from his current position on the wall and landed in front of the Emerald. Robotnik quickly shouted and waved his hands causing the robots to stop firing.

"Stop! You'll hit the Emerald!" he screamed.

Tails couldn't help but smirk as he watched Robotnik's actions.

"Well well well! Something wrong?" he asked as cockily as he could.

Robotnik looked back at Tails for a moment before he spoke.

"A minor set back fox, but I still have the upper hand." he said.

"Oh yeah?" replied Tails, "How'd you figure that?"

"My robots can simply wait you out, I'm sure you won't last long without food and water."

Tails blinked and then gulped slightly, he hadn't thought of that. His reaction earned him a laugh from Robotnik.

"You see Tails, this is my world now and I always have the upper hand."

Tails wasn't listening to Robotnik anymore, he was now thinking desperately on how to get everyone out of this situation. It was then that an odd feeling ran through his mind, a sudden and puzzling feeling. He slowly turned to look at the others and the Emerald lying behind him.

"Guys…..touch the Emerald." he said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Shiro looking up sharply.

"I don't know, just touch it ok, all of you."

Shiro gave him an odd look and then nodded slowly as he reached out and touched it. Nara nervously followed suit and Aero finally, after a little struggle, reached out and touched it also. Tails made sure everyone was touching it before he looked back at Robotnik. The round man still stood watching them but he seemed to be paying less and less attention to them as his robots were also watching them.

"Yo Egghead! It's been nice visiting but I'm afraid we have to leave now." he said.

Robotnik looked towards the fox and paused for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Oh yes! And what makes you think you're going anywhere?" replied Robotnik with a laugh.

"This!"

With that Tails stepped back and planted one of his hands firmly on the Emerald behind him. For a moment nothing happened but then the Emerald began to glow brighter and continued to get brighter with every second that past. As the glow increased so did the heat from the Emerald, it wasn't a vast heat or anything that would burn a person but it felt like it to Tails. He had to force himself to keep his injured hand on the Emeralds surface. Even if Robotnik had had time to react it would have meant nothing as all he did was stare at the scene as finally, in a large white flash, the Emerald and the four furries touching it vanished from view.

-----------------------------------------

Tails had to blink several times and rub his eyes with the back of his hands in order to get his eyes to focus again, the white flash had been quite intense. As his vision cleared he began to make out things around him. He was in a square concrete room with pipes crossing the ceiling. Off to one side sat a cabinet and some water butts and to another sat a rolled up pile of bedding. Tails blinked quickly as he recognised the room.

"My word!" came Shiro's voice from behind him, "We're back in the Den. How'd we end up back here?"

Tails slowly turned around to see the Master Emerald and his three new companions lying on the floor behind him. Nara was looking round in short sharp movements trying to figure out what had just happened, Aero was looking around too but was concentrating on the pain in his body more than what had just happened and Shiro was looking at Tails with a perplexed look. Tails stuttered slightly and looked at the Emerald which was now loosing its glow.

"I don't now Shiro….I just got this really odd feeling and…"

"Never mind! We have to see to Aero first then we can think about what just happened."

"You're right Shiro, what can I do?"

"Get some damn medical supplies and bring them over here!"

Shiro had once again taken over his position of leader and Tails had to admit he was startled at how commanding he sounded. Tails quickly scrambled to one side heading towards the medical cabinet he had seen earlier. Upon reaching it he flung open a draw and started to go through it, there wasn't much left in the draw, a small nearly empty tub of that antiseptic cream, a few tattered bandages, certainly nothing that would really help Aero in his current state but none the less he picked up what he could and carried them over to where the others were. Dumping the stuff down he spoke.

"I don't know how much help this stuff will do."

"I doesn't matter, we have to try at least." replied Shiro as he started to pull a fragment of metal plating from Aero's leg.

The fox, who before had been holding in his pain, now screamed like the world was on fire. Tears welled up in his eyes as Shiro continued his work and ran down his muzzle, pooling on the ground next to him. Nara was sitting to one side sobbing quietly to herself now too.

"I feel responsible." said Tails to no-one in particular.

"It's not your fault Tails." replied Shiro finally pulling a two inch piece of metal from Aero's leg, "Now give me a hand here would you."

Tails nodded slowly and started to assist Aero but he couldn't stop himself speaking as he did.

"But if I hadn't left and got myself caught you wouldn't have had to rescue me and this would never have happened." he said.

"Tails stop kicking yourself! We can talk about it later but right now we have to help Aero ok."

Tails took a sharp breath and fell silent, going back to his job of helping Shiro. During this short exchange both of them had failed to notice what Nara had. The small rabbit was no longer sobbing but was now whimpering in fright and edging closer to Shiro.

"Shiro? Shiro?" she whispered quietly.

Shiro didn't even seem to notice her.

"Shiro?!"

Again Shiro took no notice.

"SHIRO!" wailed Nara.

This time Shiro turned, a slightly angry look on his face.

"Nara please don't disturb…." started Shiro before stopping in mid sentence, "….holy sweet mother of god! What is that?!"

Tails quickly looked round also to see what Shiro had exclaimed at and his jaw almost dropped to the floor. The Master Emerald was now glowing brightly giving of pulses of light as it did but this, however, wasn't the most interesting thing. In front of the Emerald two ghostly figures could be seem and at the centre of each one hung a small orb of light. The two light balls pulsed slowly before each giving a gentle flash of light before fading away. Where the two light balls had been now stood two furries.

One of them was a peach coloured echidna. Her quills hung at different lengths, the forward two hanging at about shoulder length, the next two reaching her waist and the last two behind her stretching far below her waist and crossing over at the tips. A thick gold was wrapped around her head just under her quills and had a small blue stone embedded in it. A similar thick gold necklace hung around her neck, also studded with a blue stone, partially covering the white top she wore. Around her waist was a long and fairly tight skirt that reached her ankles and was decorated with a green, white and light and dark violet pattern. Her feet were wrapped up in a variety of white tapes around which sat a pair of white sandals. Around each of her upper arms was a white band or material with a single white strand hanging from each, a pair of white gloves covered her hands and around her wrists were a set of light blue bangles. Lastly around each of her front quills was a thick gold metal band from which hung a chain suspending an upside down V shaped tag.

Beside the echidna stood a midnight black hedgehog. His quills stuck up and outwards away from his head with a red strip running down the top of each of his quills, the end of each of them tipped in a pearly white. A patch of white fur was clearly visible on his upper chest and lines of red colour ran down each of his arms and legs. A pair of red, white and black shoes sat on his feet which matched the gloves on his hands and lastly a tattered dark grey cape was wrapped around his shoulders.

Tails stood dumbfounded staring at the new arrivals, he recognised them both even thought it didn't sound possible.

"...Shadow and….Tikal…." he spoke softly.

The echidna looked over at him and spoke gently.

"Hello Tails, it's been a long time."

"Tails what's going on?" questioned Shiro quickly staring at Tikal and Shadow, "Who are these two?"

Tails for a moment didn't Shiro's question but finally snapped back to reality and turned to look at him.

"It's ok Shiro, they're friends." he said before turning back to Tikal, "Old friends."

Tikal gave a small nod and then looked at Shiro.

"You have nothing to fear from me, I'm not here to hurt anyone." she said.

It was then that Tikal noticed Nara who was hiding behind Shiro and peeking out from behind his back. Tikal herself knelt down and looked at Nara with a slightly cocked head.

"It's ok, come here." she said softly.

Nara slowly looked out at Tikal and her expression turned slowly from fright to curiosity. She slowly slipped out from behind Shiro and took a few steps towards Tikal but still kept out of arms reach.

"What's your name?" asked Tikal.

"Nara." replied the rabbit looking at the necklace around Tikal's neck, "That's a pretty necklace."

"You want to try it on?"

"Could I?"

Tikal just gave a small smile and reached behind her, unclasped the necklace and held it out in her hands towards Nara. Nara slowly reached forwards only to have Shiro pull on her shirt. Nara looked back to see the racoon shaking his head at her and Nara cast her glance back and forth between Shiro and Tikal for a moment before deciding on her actions. She looked back at Tikal and slowly took the necklace from her hands before placing it around her neck and smiling.

"Thank you." she said quietly blushing a little.

"It looks good on you." replied Tikal, "You can keep it for a while if you like."

"Thank you."

Tikal just smiled and stood up, looking around the rest of the room before she spotted Aero curled up on the floor staring at her with wide eyes. Tikal gasped quickly and raised a hand to her lips before taking a step towards Aero. Shiro quickly made a move and got in between her and Aero giving Tikal a suspicious look as he did. Tikal stopped and looked at Shiro, understanding his actions clearly.

"I can help him." she said.

"How?" asked Shiro.

"Just trust me please."

"Shiro let her past." said Tails stepping up beside Shiro, "Tikal isn't an enemy."

"Easy for you to say that." replied Shiro looking at him, "She did just appear out of nowhere."

"I know Tikal Shiro, she wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone. Come on, we can't do anything for him ourselves."

Shiro gave a small sigh and then slowly nodded before stepping aside but not before giving Tikal another suspicious look. Tikal blinked slowly and then stepped past Shiro and Tails, kneeling down next to Aero. As she did the fox shuffled back slightly away from her, nervous as to what exactly she was going to do.

"Hush now." cooed Tikal as she extended both of her hands over Aero.

She let her fingers droop and then slowly closed her eyes. Spreading her fingers she slowly lowered her hands until the tips of her fingers touched Aero's arm. The fox gave a sudden yelp, forcing Tails to grab Shiro before he dived at Tikal, and then went quiet. Tikal's hands started to glow lightly as did all of Aero's body, a few small balls of light rising from the pair. This continued for a few moments before everyone gasped sharply. All over Aero's body the chunks of metal embedded in his skin started to disintegrate and disappear. As they did the wounds caused by them started to close up, neatly reforming back to normal and looking as if nothing had happened. Aero gave a low moan and closed his eyes lightly looking like he was actually enjoying what was happening to him. After a moment longer Tikal raised her hands and opened her eyes, looking ahead of her for a moment before falling to the side only just managing to catch herself as she did. Nara quickly jumped forwards towards Tikal and knelt down next to her catching hold of her arm as she did.

"Are you ok?" she asked nervously.

"Ah, yes, thank you dear. I'm just a little fatigued." replied Tikal lowering her head and giving a short sigh.

Nara looked at Aero to find that Shiro was already beside the fox helping him into a sitting position.

"You alright Aero?" asked Shiro.

Aero gave his head a shake and yawned before answering.

"I feel weird if that's what you mean." replied Aero.

The fox ran a hand along the side of his body, feeling the now healed skin with his paw.

"Heh, they're gone." he said to himself but still audible to everyone else, "She healed all my wounds, that's….amazing."

Aero looked over at where Tikal was and saw the condition she was in. Before he could ask though Nara answered his question.

"She's just tired." stated Nara.

Aero gave a nod and yawned again.

"That makes two of us." he said.

Tails now crossed over top where Tikal was and knelt down by her as Tikal rested her back against a small raised platform in the middle of the room. For a moment he just looked at her as she took a few deep breathes.

"Tikal….what was that? I've never seen you do that before." he said.

"I've been investigating my powers during my time in the Emerald Tails, I've learned a few things." replied Tikal.

Tails gave a small nod and then moved onto more pressing matters.

"Tikal how come you're here? Last time I saw you, you were sailing into the sky with Chaos."

"We returned to the Master Emerald Tails. Myself and Chaos spent many long eons together teaching each other things and talking. Time doesn't pass the same in the Emerald you see, it can be as fast or as slow as you want it to be. A year can last minutes or millennia and a single moment can last for an eternity."

Tails didn't really know what to say, the working's of the Master Emerald were a mystery to every furry alive on the planet. He sat looking at Tikal for a moment before asking his next question.

"So where is Chaos now?"

"He's still inside the Emerald, after so long of having a spirit inside it the Master has become use to it and now needs a spirit within it at all times. Besides Chaos is tired of fighting, he no longer yearns to destroy, only to protect."

"I see…" replied Tails now casting his glance over towards the black hedgehog.

He was leaning on the Master Emerald, most of his body turned away from the others, with his arms crossed and a thoughtful expression on his face.

"What is Shadow doing here? He died! He died saving the world during the ARK incident." said Tails slowly.

"I saved him." replied Tikal.

"Huh?"

"When Shadow fell from ARK the energy of the Chaos Emeralds was still with him. I reached out with the power of the Master Emerald and clung onto the energy of the Chaos Emeralds. Like I did with Chaos and myself all those years ago, I drew him inside the Emerald with us. He was disorientated when he arrived and didn't trust us at all but gradually over time he has come to accept us. I hope."

Tikal slowly looked over at Shadow just as the hedgehog glanced in her direction also. The pair looked at each other for a moment before Shadow looked away again and resumed his thoughtful look. Tikal turned back also and gave a small sigh, smiling as she did. Tails meanwhile was now looking at the white tips on Shadow's quills.

"How did he get those? They almost look the same colour that his whole body was when he went super." he asked.

"Hmm? Oh the white tips you mean, well you're right in saying the colour is the same as his super form. When I drew him into the Emerald the Chaos energy in his body had not fully dispersed and the Master Emerald's ability is to stop Chaos energy. Therefore the left over energy in his body stopped and stuck with him, turning the tips of his quills white."

"I could sit here and ask questions like this all day Tikal, this is amazing stuff, but…" Tails gave a sigh and looked around, "…just what is going on here? What happened to me when I touched the Master Emerald? What has happened to this place? Was what Robotnik said true?"

Tikal's expression slowly faded to one of sadness and she looked away and down. Her arms fell limply to her side and she pressed her eyes together forcing a few tears to run down her muzzle.

"I'm sorry Tails, it's all my fault." she said quietly.

"Huh? Tikal what do you mean?" asked Tails taking hold of one of Tikal's hands lightly.

"It's my failure, my fault this world is like it is today."

"How?"

"Do you remember all those years ago when Robotnik captured the Emerald and you and Sonic went to recover it?"

"All those years ago? Tikal that only just happened!"

"No Tails it didn't, that happened eight of your years ago, I'll try to explain. When you came to Robotnik's base he started to draw energy out of the Master to power his machines, this caused the Master's powers to go crazy and out of control. I couldn't stop what was happening and instead my own powers started to react with the Master's. When you touched the Emerald my powers found an outlet and activated themselves."

"What happened?"

"You remember during the time when Chaos was released from the Emerald, I was able to transport you and your friends back in time for short periods. Well a similar thing happened when you touched the Emerald last time only you were catapulted forwards in time and I could do nothing to stop it or bring you back, you were lost."

Tails blinked in amazement, it all seemed to be made up yet at the same time it all fitted together. It was then that a question he had been asking since his arrival came to him again.

"Then what happened to Sonic?" he asked.

"I can't say." replied Tikal closing her eyes tightly, "But I can let you see, I can let you all see what happened on that day."

Tikal looked back at Tails and held out both of her hands to Tails to which Tails held out his own hands allowing Tikal to see his burns for the first time.

"Let me heal those first." she said softly closing her eyes and placing her hands on Tails.

Tails was expecting the contact with his burns to hurt yet it didn't, if anything it felt good. Tails watched as small light orbs began to rise from his hands for a few moments before Tikal removed her hands. As she did the tattered bandages around his hands fell away revealing his hands fully. His burns were completely healed and his hands looked like nothing had even happened. He looked up at Tikal as she glanced over at the other three who had been watching and listening the whole time with interest.

"Come closer." she beckoned to them.

Nara slowly started to make her way over and sat down next to Tikal closely followed by Aero and a rather reluctant Shiro. Tikal sat back and held out her hands, one pointing at Tails and Nara and the other at Shiro and Aero.

"Touch my hands." she instructed.

Tails was the first to move, placing his palm in Tikal's shortly before Nara's hand landed on top of his. Aero was next, touching Tikal's other hand and finally Shiro. With everyone touching her hands Tikal closed her eyes and relaxed completely. White energy orbs started to rise from her palms and slowly a white light filled the entire room, blotting out everyone's vision. When it cleared all any of them could see was a green tinted background. They could look through three hundred and sixty degrees completely unrestricted. Tails found himself looking out at the green tinted background and recognised the place he was in. The background was that of the room in Eggman's base.

"I'm inside the Emerald." he said to himself

"No don't come any closer!" cried a familiar voice.

"Tikal? Tikal is that you?"

Tails spun his vision around trying to find the voice and froze. Standing there in front of him was himself looking identical to how he looked now. The fox was shielding his eyes from something and Tails remembered what was going on. This was just after Sonic had told him to get the Master Emerald and it had started sparking. He continued to watch as he saw himself reaching out for the Emerald.

"No don't come any closer!" repeated the voice in a panicked tone.

"Tikal is that you? Where are you?!" cried Tails.

He received no answer though and the voice of Tikal continued to cry out.

"No get away! Don't touch it! Please don't touch it! NO!"

At that point Tails hands made contact with the Emerald and he watched as he saw himself screaming in pain. He could see the energy eating into his own hands from inside the Emerald and he had to look away and close his eyes. When he looked back he could no longer see himself standing there, he was gone. It was then that a second voice filled the air, a voce even more familiar than Tikal's.

"TAILS!"

"Sonic?!"

Tails glanced over towards the voice to see Sonic imbedded in a wall looking straight at the Emerald. It was then that bright light to his side caught his eye and looking he saw it belonged to the robot's laser gun which was now charging heavily. Panic set in and Tails looked back towards his friend in the wall.

"Sonic! Sonic look out! Sonic!"

Sonic didn't move an inch nor did he seem to notice the robot to his side, he just stared at the spot where he had seem himself standing not a moment before. Tails continued to scream warning but none of them made it to Sonic. Tails finally looked back at the robot just in time to see it fire making Tails look away and down. He closed his eyes tightly but still the sound of the explosion filled his ears. When he looked back again an entire section of wall was missing and there was no sign of Sonic.

"Sonic?" asked Tails quietly, "Sonic? No, please no."

He swallowed heavily and looked down, gritting his teeth and closing his eyes as he did.

"It's not true! It can't be….Sonic. NOOOOOOOOO!"

This last cry brought him back to reality and he found himself pulling away from Tikal and falling over backwards. He landed with a thud on the ground a few feet away and immediately curled up, hugging his knees to his chest as he did. He continued to grit his teeth and attempted to hold back his tears but they were now flowing freely down his cheek. Nara was already in tears, the event being too much for her, and Shiro and Aero were just in shock. Tikal sat with her head bowed not saying a word and Shadow was still unmoved from his earlier position although he did give a glance in the groups direction.

"It's not true! Tikal tell me it's not true!" choked Tails through his gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry Tails." replied Tikal looking up at him, "I'm so sorry! I…"

Tikal fell silent and started to weep slightly herself, not bothering to wipe her tears as they fell onto her top leaving small stains where they fell. Nobody said a word after this, everyone was lost in their own thoughts or could think of nothing to say. This silence was suddenly broken though as the entire room began to shake. Shadow looked up sharply at the ceiling.

"Something's coming." he said quickly.

"It must be Robotnik." put in Shiro quickly looking up, "He must have detected the energy of that green thing or something."

"I've done it again…" murmured Tikal to herself.

Just then Tikal felt a hand on her arm and felt herself being pulled to her feet. She looked up to see Tails standing next to her, his face stained with tears but a determined look in his eyes.

"Come on Tikal! We have to get everyone out of here." he said quickly.

Tikal looked at him for a moment as the room continued to shake and then nodded slowly.

"Yes! Yes we do!" she agreed.

"Shiro is there another way out of here?" asked Tails spinning to the racoon.

"Yes follow me." replied Shiro spinning and heading for the flap of material covering the entrance to the next room. As he crossed the room pieces of concrete and a few pipes started to fall from the ceiling and crash to the floor around them.

"He must be drilling through to us." cried Aero as he scooped up Nara and ran after Shiro.

Tikal quickly followed the pair but then stopped and ran to the Master Emerald trying desperately to pick it up. Her attempts were unsuccessful and Tails quickly grabbed her arm.

"Come on Tikal, we have to go now!" he said.

"But we can't leave without the Master Emerald! What about Chaos?" replied Tikal still pulling at the Emerald.

Tails looked at the others now clustered in the doorway and then at the Emerald and made his decision. He quickly flung his arms around the Emerald and started to heave at it also but even the pair of them couldn't move it very quickly.

"Tikal we can't do this, we have to go!" insisted Tails.

"No! We can't leave it!" replied Tikal.

Tails was at a loss for what to do until suddenly the Emerald seemed lighter. Searching for the reason he looked to the side to see Shadow now helping in the task of lifting the large Emerald. Tails gave him a nod and a smile to which Shadow smiled slightly himself and then started to move forwards. Tikal and Tails were quick on their feet and together the three of them went into a run as they crossed the room with the Emerald. Pipes and rock were now falling all around them, some narrowly missing them as they ran across it. As they made it to the doorway Shiro headed off again, darting into the back of the room followed by Aero who was still carrying Nara. The three carrying the Emerald followed as quickly as they could, squeezing through a small gap Shiro had just passed through. They came to an abrupt stop at the other side of the gap and stared. In front of them was a small platform in front of which ran a fast moving water channel. The channel was at a slight angle and left the small room by means of a dark tunnel.

"Here!" cried Shiro, "Everyone jump in."

"What is this Shiro?" asked Tails.

"It's the main water dumping tunnel for the city, it extends for a good mile and spills out into the sea near some jungle I think." replied Shiro, "Now come on! Everyone into the water channel before we get an armada of robots bearing down on us!"

"You got it Shiro, hold your breath Nara!" cried Aero as he took a running jump into the channel.

The water was moving so quickly that he was washed out of sight within a few seconds.

"Let's go Tikal!" said Tails quickly stepping forwards.

"Ok." replied the echidna.

Together they pushed the Master Emerald into the stream of water and watched as it disappeared out of sight.

"Cya on the other side Tails." said Shiro.

"You too Shiro." replied Tails before he clasped a hand around Tikal's wrist and pulled her into the water stream with him.

Shiro watched then disappear and then looked at Shadow. He didn't know what to think of the black hedgehog yet but he wasn't going to let his feeling get in the way right now.

"Come on lets go." he said quickly.

"You go, I'll follow." replied Shadow looking back at the crack they had come through.

Shiro hesitated for a moment and then, feeling the room give another shake, jumped into the water. Shadow stood for a moment longer beside the channel before giving a glare at the crack and jumping backwards into the water channel, vanishing into the blackness a second later. As they all slid down the water channel they heard the sounds of the crashing getting quieter and quieter, all the time the rush of water getting louder and louder and the blackness still surrounded them.

-----------------------------------------

Tails coughed slightly, bringing up a mouthful of water as he did, and slowly raised his head. He shook his head slightly, throwing his wet bangs out of his eyes, and then looked around. He was lying on what appeared to be a small sandy cove. Behind him the sea lapped against the shore and in front of, nestled between two cliffs that rose on either side, was a dense dark jungle. He coughed again, bringing up yet more water, and continued to look around him. To his right he caught sight of Aero, with Nara sat next to him, they both appeared to be ok although Aero was lying on his side breathing heavily. Tails slowly started to push himself up onto his knees, giving a moan as his head started to spin slightly, and took a further look around the cove. From his new position he caught sight of Shadow, the black hedgehog now on his feet and looking around also, and Shiro leaning against a large rock. Tails suddenly became worried, someone was missing.

"Hey! Anyone seem Tikal?" he said as he finally pulled himself to his feet.

Shiro raised his head and shook it slowly.

"Not since you two jumped into the pipe." he replied.

Tails looked both ways down the cove and then back at Shiro.

"I'm going to look for her."

"Tails wait! I'll come with you." said Shiro quickly standing up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I might not know her but she's our own kind and if we can't look after our own we have problems."

"True, thanks Shiro."

"No problem, hey Nara!"

"Yes Shiro?" replied the small rabbit looking up.

"Is Aero awake yet?" asked Shiro.

"Yes but he's still a little dazed, why?"

"Just asking, Tails and I are going to look for Tikal, keep an eye on things here would you."

Nara just nodded at Shiro and started fiddling with the large gold necklace Tikal had given her earlier that was still around her neck. Shiro turned back to Tails and the pair started to move off across the cove.

"What happened to Aero?" asked Tails.

"He must knock his head on someone on the way down the pipe, he's just a little stunned." replied Shiro.

"Guy never seems to catch a break does he."

"Yeah Aero can be a little accident prone at times but let's get looking for Tikal shall we."

"You're right, you go left and I'll go right. Then we'll meet back at the others and check the other side of the cove."

"You got it Tails."

The pair split up, Shiro heading off to the left and the remotest part of the cove and Tails heading out towards the shore and a patch of large rocks. Tails had to admit to himself that he was slightly worried about Tikal. The reason he had been holding onto her when they had jumped into the channel was so that he was sure she didn't get lost and yet here he was searching for her. He wondered why he was searching for her in the first place, it had after all been her powers that had warped him to the future and had resulted in Sonic being killed but he also knew it hadn't been her fault. It had been Robotnik draining the Emeralds powers that had caused her powers to go crazy, he was to blame, not Tikal.

He continued his search for a few minutes longer when he suddenly got an idea, spinning his tails he took off, gaining an aerial view of the area he was searching for and it instantly proved its worth. To one side of the rock formation in a section he had yet to search he spied a bright green glow. Diving from the sky, and giving a shout to Shiro as he went, he landed next to the glow and slipped down a rock so he was next to it. In front of him lay the Master Emerald and next to it, with her arms wrapped securely around the Emerald, lay Tikal. She was breathing lightly but her eyes were closed making Tails hurry to her side. He knelt down next to her and lightly shook her with one of his hands.

"Tikal, hey Tikal are you alright?" he asked.

"No mother let me sleep some more." murmured Tikal happily.

"Tikal?"

Tails gave Tikal another small shake and finally the echidna woke. Her eyes fluttered and eventually opened focussing on Tails' face as they did.

"Tails?" she asked.

"Yeah it's me Tikal, you ok?" replied Tails.

"I…I think so."

Tikal slowly removed her arms from the Emerald and sat up. Her clothes were covered in sand and various pieces of seaweed clung to her body, which she started to shake off before looking back at Tails.

"Is everyone else ok?" she asked.

"Yup never better." chirped Shiro's voice as he appeared from behind a rock, "I see you found her Tails."

"Yeah I did." replied Tails looking back at Tikal and extending his hand, "Come on lets get you back to the group."

Tikal gave a nod and accepted Tails hand.

"You take her back Tails, I'll wait here with this thing until you get back. I doubt I'll be able to pick it up myself." said Shiro.

"Ok Shiro, I'll be back shortly then."

Tails kept a hold of Tikal's hand and together the pair started to cross the rocks back towards the beach. Tails was glad everyone was ok, at least that was something to be thankful for.

"Thank you for coming to look for me Tails…" said Tikal shyly.

"No problem Tikal, I'm just glad everyone is safe." replied Tails.

"When I felt you loose your grip on my hand in the water pipe I…I thought for one moment that you might not come to find me."

"Why would you think that?"

"It's my fault Tails, everything around us is my fault. None of this would have happened if I had controlled my powers."

Tikal looked down at the ground and didn't make another sound apart from a short sigh. Tails couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Tikal it's not all your fault, it's Robotnik! It's his fault." he said.

"Maybe Tails but I still feel responsible. If it wasn't for me then Sonic and everyone else who helped me in stopping Chaos would be alive now. I'm sorry Tails."

Tails felt the pain of loss swell inside him as Tikal spoke, what Tikal said was true but as much as he tried to be angry at her he couldn't be. He looked ahead to see that they were nearing the rest of the group and decided to say one last thing before they reached them.

"I'm alive Tikal and I'm glad you're ok."

"Thank you Tails." replied Tikal in a murmur.

-----------------------------------------

It wasn't more than an hour later that the group of six were moving slowly into the jungle. Tails was in the lead, using his tails to create energy blades to cut through the dense vegetation like a machete. Next came Tikal and Nara, Nara had since given Tikal her necklace back and the pair had walked the entire distance so far without saying a word to anyone. Next came Shiro and Aero carrying the Emerald between them. They both looked tired but neither was complaining. Finally Shadow brought up the rear casting suspicious glances in all directions as he walked.

Out of the whole group Tails was the most worn out. He generally didn't use his tail blade attack more than once or twice at a time but now he was using it continually. Eventually he got to a point where he had to stop and rest and slumped to the ground against a tree. The entire group came to a stop next to him and Shiro and Aero quickly dropped the Emerald giving a small pant each as they did.

"Phew! Break time!" said Shiro quickly.

"About time." added Aero slumping to the ground also.

"Are we lost?" asked Nara innocently.

"No we're not lost Nara." replied Tails, "I just need a break that's all."

Nara's question did however spark a thought in Tails' mind. Where exactly were they heading? He hadn't recognised the cove they had been washed up in and the jungle they were in looked unfamiliar to boot. He needed to see exactly where they were and his earlier idea came back to him. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and looked up.

"Breaks not over already is it?" asked Shiro.

"No I'm just going to take a quick aerial view of our position." replied Tails.

"You sure you're up for that Tails? You look worn out." stated Aero.

"I'll be fine."

Tails took a few steps away from the group and spun his tails, pulling him up into the air. He had to go slow, pushing his way though the dense vegetation until he was above the canopy. Once there he climbed to a few hundred meters and looked around. To his left was the sea, separated from the jungle by a tall cliff, behind him was the shrouded form of Robotnik Square which even in the daylight looked like a dark place. In front and to his right the jungle expanded onwards for just about as far as he could see but ahead of him something caught his eye. A line running through the jungle not so far ahead, is weaved and snaked its way through the thick jungle as if someone had taken an ice cream scoop and carved a channel in the jungle. Tails grinned slightly and then dropped back down to the canopy, passing through the foliage before landing next to everyone again.

"Any luck?" asked Aero.

"Lots, it seems there's some sort of track ahead of us, if we make for it the journey might be easier." replied Tails.

"You sure Tails? It could be something used by Robotnik." warned Shiro.

"Maybe but it looks pretty over grown to me, least we can do is check it out."

"I guess so, we moving now?"

"Yeah, we best make as much progress as we can while its still light."

Shiro nodded and got up forcing a groan from Aero. Before long the group was on the move again, Tails carving through the jungle with new found vigour. It was still slow work and it took an hour or so to cover the short distance to the track but Tails couldn't believe it when they arrived. Bursting through the last part of jungle Tails found himself looking at a slight raised embankment, on top of which ran a single set of metal rails.

"Well I'll be!" he exclaimed.

"What is it Tails?" asked Tikal following behind him.

"It's a railway! An over grown one but a railway none the less!"

"Well that'll make the journey easier." said Tikal.

"Better! I can't believe I didn't think of this before!"

"What?"

"This is the old railway out of Station Square, anyone know where that railway ended up?"

The rest of the group had appeared now but none had an answer for him.

"The Mystic Ruins!" exclaimed Tails happily, "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Think of what Tails?" asked Shiro.

"I have, well use to have a workshop in the Mystic Ruins, if we can reach it we can shelter there."

"Well in that case lets get moving!"

"AAAAAH! Shiro can you take a break for once." moaned Aero.

"Ah can it you." replied Shiro.

Once again the group moved off, now making quicker progress as they walked along the old railway. The jungle had grown over the railway at a few points but Tails was able to clear them easily now that he wasn't using his tail attack continually. The sun had already passed overhead and was now starting to sink down behind the western horizon but this only drove the group on at a faster pace. Finally the railway passed into a short tunnel which the group passed into, using the glow of the Master Emerald to light their path. Eventually a light became apparent at the end of the tunnel and the group soon found themselves walking out onto a large viaduct. Tails stopped and put his hands on his hips for a moment before spinning towards the group in triumph.

"Yes I knew it!" he cried.

Around them was a circular formation of cliffs open to the sea on one side that was completely isolated from the jungle behind them. In towards the cliffs was a large over grown pool of water and to the other side, next to the sea, was a large raised section of flat land. To one side of this flat section was a small house, neatly hidden by ivy and other such plants, with a long strip of land that extended out to sea.

"There is it!" exclaimed Tails pointing at the house.

"Well I never, nice going Tails." congratulated Aero slapping his fellow vulpine on the back.

"How do we get down?" asked Nara slowly.

Tails stopped immediately and looked towards the far end of the viaduct. The large raised wooden station that once served the railway was now a crumbled pile of rotting wood and no other way down from the viaduct was evident. Tails chuckled slightly.

"Simple Nara, I'll air lift you all down." replied Tails.

"I'll pass." said Shadow walking past Tails.

The hedgehog stopped just past Tails on a clear spot on the viaduct and without warning took a flying leap off the tracks at full speed. His momentum was enough to carry him clear over the floor below and landed him neatly on the raised section of land next to Tails' workshop. Shiro, Aero and Nara just stared in amazement.

"He didn't just do that did he?" asked Shiro.

"Um yeah he did." replied Tails awkwardly.

"Amazing." chirped Nara.

"Well you'll enjoy this even more."

Tails quickly spun his tails lifting himself off the ground and extended his hands towards Nara. The rabbit looked at him nervously for a moment and then took hold of his hands. Tails spun his tails faster and pulled upwards lifting them both off the ground. As he did Nara gave a yelp and covered her eyes with her ears causing Tails to give a short chuckle. Tails lifted the small rabbit over to where Shadow had landed and let go of her hands. Even with her feet firmly on the ground Nara still had her eyes covered.

"It's ok Nara, you're on the ground again." said Tails.

"You sure?" asked Nara.

"Yes."

Nara slowly peeked out from behind her ears and looked up at the rest of the group still on the bridge.

"That was cool." exclaimed Nara suddenly.

"Glad you liked it, I'll be right back."

Tails turned round and took off again, flying back up to the viaduct and landing next to Tikal, Shiro and Aero.

"Ok who's next?" he asked.

Aero quickly stepped forwards, grinning as he did, and soon found himself being flown over to the platform. Shiro was next in line and then Tails lifted the Master Emerald over to the platform. Finally he transported Tikal over to the others and sat down for a moment to recover. Finally when he and everyone else was ready, Tails led the ground towards the house, up a flight of stair and up to the front door.

"Brace yourself guys, if this place is in the same state as what I left it in eight years ago it might be a little messy." warned Tails.

With that he pushed open the door and stepped inside. What greeted their vision first of all was a red and white coloured biplane, the Tornado. Tails smiled and stepped over to her, running his bare hand along the dusty fuselage.

"How you doing old girl? Thought I'd left you?" he asked.

"Wow Tails, did you make that?" asked Shiro.

"No this was my friend Sonic's plane. I don't know what happened to mine, last time I saw her I had landed outside Robotnik's base eight years ago. Who knows where she is but the Cyclone should be here. Yeah, she was on the lower level, come on I'll take you all down there." replied Tails.

Nobody argued as Tails filed them past the Tornado and into a small lift that took them down to a lower level. It was here that they found the Cyclone, currently in its plane form, sitting in a large open workshop. Parts of the plane lay scattered around all over forcing Tails to smile awkwardly.

"Oh yeah I was fixing her when I got the call from Sonic." he said looking at the array of pieces littering the floor.

Everything was covered in dust and dirt but amazingly the room still didn't look that messy. Shiro and Aero finally set the Master Emerald down in a corner of the room and turned back to the group.

"So what now?" asked Shiro.

"Well for a start I'm going to fix up the Cyclone, can't have her lying in pieces any longer." said Tails picking up a few small pieces of machinery.

"Tails are you thinking of doing what I think you're thinking of doing?" asked Shiro.

"If I followed that correctly, yes I am."

"You're not serious!" said Aero, "You're thinking of going up against Robotnik again aren't you."

"I'm deadly serious."

"But why?" asked Shiro, "You must know you can't do anything to him now."

"Maybe but I'm not giving up. Sonic would never have given up if he was in my position and I'm not either. I don't care if it takes the rest of my life to stop Robotnik, I'm going to try."

"I'll help Tails, well as much as I can help." said Tikal quietly, "I feel I must do something to correct the past."

"You're both insane." said Shiro quickly goggling at the pair.

Nara was looking between the two pairs and then walked over to stand beside Tikal.

"I'm going to help too" she said.

"Nara!" cried Shiro in disbelief.

"Hey lighten up Shiro, they do have a point you know." said Aero, "You really think hiding from Robotnik forever is a good life?"

"I know that Aero but…going up against him is like suicide!" protested Shiro.

"What's the matter Shiro? Loosing your edge?" taunted Aero.

Everyone could physically see Shiro's reaction to this comment as he glared at Aero. Finally the racoon groaned a sigh and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine if you're all going to throw in the towel I might as well join you." he said flatly.

"That's the spirit Shiro!" grinned Aero before giving a nod in Tails' direction.

"Heh, thanks you guys, it means a lot to me." said Tails.

It was then that Tails noticed Shadow standing some way off staring into space. Tails pulled a thoughtful face and looked at the black hedgehog for a moment.

"Hey Shadow, you joining us?" he asked.

The black hedgehog turned and walked towards him but didn't make eye contact. As Shadow passed by Tails he stopped and looked at the fox out of the corner of his eye.

"I have my own reasons but yes I will join you for now." he said.

Shadow slowly looked back in the direction he was going and walked off again leaving everyone to stare at his quills as he walked away.

"That Shadow guy is a funny chap." said Shiro quietly.

"You don't know the half of it." added Tails.

The next few minutes were quiet and then finally the group dispersed, heading off into different areas of the workshop to look around. Tails headed back up to the Tornado's hanger and headed outside, sitting down on the step outside the door. Night was now creeping in, the last few rays of sunlight shining over the horizon turning the sea a brilliant orange colour. Tails let out a short sigh and looked up at the sky. The first star was visible now, glinting brightly all on its own. As Tails continued to watch a few more stars started to appear around the first, all glinting to themselves.

"Even when you look alone you're not." commented Tails, "Sonic I'm sorry I messed up. You were always like a brother to me and I'll never forget you. I'll bring down Robotnik, just watch me! This is my pledge to you my good friend. Watch me! I'll become strong just like you were! Watch me!"


End file.
